Asylum
by Uncle Charlie
Summary: Was it love or something else that had trapped the nanny for so many years? That's what Sapphire and Steel are hoping to find out, if it doesn't kill them first. Written for Element Flash. Prompt: Unrequited love


Title: Asylum

Author: Spikesgirl58

Word count: 3654

Rating: PG-13

Prompt: UNREQUITED LOVE! 

The house had been empty for a long time, yet it still stood proud against the weather. Once there had been neighboring homes and laughing children who played upon the lawn, but those days were long gone. Now it was alone, long shunned.

True, many of its windows were broken and the front porch was a pile of splintered wood. Its hedges and flowers were a distant memory that only the oak trees remembered. The wind had snapped off the weaker branches, twisted those remaining into an intimidating caricature of clutching hands. It was as if to warn people that all here was not well.

Steel stood in the front yard and stared at the two story, white-clapboard house, studying it, even as the wind buffeted him, pushing him back. He knew that the wind wasn't a conscious being, but there seemed an edge to it. The house beckoned to him, entreating him to enter. That raised red flags to him, for Time never willingly invited him in.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Silver took a step towards the house, but Steel caught his arm. "Let's get this over with."

"Fools rush in," he murmured, letting his other senses tell him what his eyes weren't. The sun was hot against his back, making his gray suit stifling, and the air devoid of anything, save the whisper of the wind. He could taste the dust and the heat.

Silver pulled from Steel's grasp or tried to. "No time like the present."

"Haste makes waste."

 _You two bicker like an old married couple._ Sapphire seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Her dress was nearly cobalt, brilliant against the cloudless sky and her boots, a butter soft leather, made no sound as they moved through the leave-littered grass.

 _We do not!_ Two minds protested as one and Sapphire smiled.

"Where are we, Sapphire?" Steel released Silver, who gingerly massaged his bicep.

"Kansas."

"Where?" Silver walked quickly to join her, sending a smirk in Steel's direction.

"The United States, Silver, or did you never learn geography growing up?"

"It wasn't stressed in my field." Silver bent down and picked up a bit of rusted metal. He cupped it in his hands and worked them for a moment. Apparently satisfied, he uncapped them and offered Sapphire a polished key. "I excelled in other areas. I imagine you will need this for the front door."

Steel ignored him. "Does anyone live here, Sapphire?"

"In the Smallie House? No, at least not within the current definition of living." She began to walk slowly toward the dilapidated structure, stepping around the larger clumps of tangled tumbleweed and garbage.

"Smallie?" Silver caught her hand and strolled with her. "It looks sort of mediumie to me."

Sapphire laughed. "It was built by General Smallie, Silver."

Steel caught up with them, his expression sour. "Tell us, Sapphire."

Her eyes flashed blue. "It was built by General Smallie in 1847 to house himself and his nine children from two marriages. Both of his wives died violently back in New York and by what today's standard would call, unusual circumstances."

"Meaning?"

"One had her face crushed in; the other fell down a flight of stairs and was impaled upon the newel post."

Silver made a face. "How awful, but surely an accident in both cases?"

Sapphire dropped his hand. "Both women lived long enough to call their husband a murderer, but because he was well respected in the community, nothing came from the accusations. After all, back then it was a man's world and women were not much more than chattel. Still, it was enough of a black cloud cast that he moved to this spot and constructed this house."

"Apparently no one lives here now." Steel gestured to the wind-damaged roof and the rubble of trash that clung to the foundation of the house like a frightened child clung to its mother. "Why?"

"Not for a very long time. It is now rumored to be haunted. The last owners left after the husband reported that something tried to push him over the second floor bannister. The wife endured vicious attacks that left her bruised and physically wounded. However nothing was officially documented as the couple had engaged in violent activity in their past. The authorities felt that this was a further example of domestic unrest, even though the couple swore it was not."

"By the wives?" Silver was puzzled as Sapphire shook her head, her eyes returning to normal. "Can ghosts do that?"

"Yes, they can" Steel answered simply without additional information. "If not by the wives, then who?"

"The nanny the General hired to look after the children. He had no time for them, so he hired someone to look after them. The nanny fell desperately in love with him. It was unrequited love, at best and one day she vanished. The General he said that she had returned to her native Trinidad, disillusioned with life on the prairie. It happened frequently and no one questioned it."

"Was the case?" Silver's voice had taken on a slightly worried edge to it.

"No, her body was discovered a few months later in a rubbish heap. There was too much decomposition to tell very much, except many bones in her body were broken as if she'd been stomped upon."

Steel made a noise in his throat. "I don't know why we bother at times. Some humans don't deserve our protection."

"In this case, I would be forced to agree." Sapphire crossed her arms and shivered. "Not long after, all of General Smallie's children met with death and all horribly, all rumored from his own hand, but he swore it was by the nanny."

"But she was dead."

"According to the General, she'd come back and brought reinforcements, his dead wives. They decided it was better to take the children from him. Accusations flew, but there was no proof. The deaths all seemed like accidents. The authorities did nothing, leaving him alone in the house. He became a recluse and by all accounts went quite mad. He could frequently be heard shrieking and shouting at an unknown assailant. When no one heard from him in a week, the police came looking for him."

"Dead?" Silver patted his hair back into place after a playful gust of wind caught it. The same wind blew Sapphire's skirt and she held it down.

"Quite, but it wasn't an easy one. He'd been severely stabbed and beaten."

"Seemingly an appropriate ending for him. Did they ever find out who did it?"

"Oh, yes, there was a confession written on the wall in General Smallie's blood."

"And?" Steel's patience was starting to wear thin with Sapphire's storytelling.

"It was signed by Hattie, the nanny."

Silver held up a hand. "Wait. I thought she was dead."

"Exactly and she was illiterate." Sapphire smiled slightly, knowing that she had hooked Silver. "The most unusual aspect of the crime, however, were the hand and foot prints that tracked through the house, all different sizes, some were even made by high heels. It was rumored that all his previous victims came back to exact revenge upon him."

Steel sighed. "Sapphire, you're leading him on." Silver looked from one to the other, puzzled.

She laughed. "I know, but the moment seemed ripe." She touched Silver's shoulder and then gave him a fast hug. "It's all hearsay and rumors, Silver. People of that time loved to embellish. However, it was enough that the house was abandoned."

"So what is our purpose here, Sapphire? I can't believe we are expanding into the ghost hunting business now."

"You two are rather good at it, the truth be known." They came to the front door and Steel took a step up onto what reminded of the wooden porch. The wood creaked and protested, but it held under his weigh. He nodded and continue to walk carefully to the door.

"Sapphire, the key." Steel reached for the key, then hesitated. He shot a fast look at one of the windows. "I don't think we are alone here."

"Steel, you can't scare me." It was Silver's turn to laugh. "The house is obviously abandoned."

"So was a train station until it wasn't." He plucked the key from Sapphire unresisting hand. "I will go first. I want you and Silver to remain out here."

"Steel, be careful." Sapphire caught his sleeve and he paused.

"Don't worry." He removed her hand and kissed the fingers gently. "They can't hurt me."

"I've heard that before. You almost fell off a building."

"I wouldn't have died in the fall." Steel unlocked the door and gave it a push. It didn't move and Steel had to resort of a might shove. It groaned with the effort of opening.

"But think of the innocent people you might have crushed," Silver said as his fellow agent stepped through and into the house. Steel took a step back out to scowl at them.

"Silver, behave yourself." Sapphire took a step towards the door and it slammed shut. "Steel?"

 _Steel?_

 _Yes, Sapphire?_

 _Did you close the door?_

 _No._

"What's going on?" Silver asked as Sapphire moved away from the door. It creaked back open. "How odd. Silver, would you please approach the door."

Shrugging his shoulders, he did as she asked and there wasn't a hint of movement until Sapphire took two quick steps. The door nearly caught Silver's nose in its effort to close.

"Apparently, whoever is home doesn't want to accept any women callers."

 _Steel, it appears that I am excluded from this party. Silver, however, can join you._

 _Fabulous. Have him wait for a moment. I will take a quick look around._

 _Steel, be careful._

 _Sapphire, nothing—_

 _I know, just be careful._

Steel nodded as if to himself and crossed the floor to the staircase. Frequently, Time liked to use stairs as a linked passage from the present to another plane. He climbed slowly, concentrating upon any changes in the atmosphere or his surroundings. He started to mount the last few stairs and felt something tug at him. Moving only his eyes, he looked and saw a young child, perhaps six, holding the hem of his coat.

"Play with me?"

"No."

His wrist was seized and Steel hissed as a jolt of pain shot up to his elbow. He jerked it away and stared at the marks on his skin. Quickly he mounted the last stair ready to be off those cursed stairs.

 _Steel?_ Sapphire sounded panicked.

 _I'm fine, it's nothing._ He looked up then and saw something towards rushing him. He braced himself for an impact that didn't come.

Steel opened his eyes. A shadow stood in front of him, gradually it took on the shape of a young woman of Jamaican descent. Her face was bruised.

"General?" She didn't seem to believe his eyes. "Why you be up here?"

"What if I am, Hattie?" Steel snapped, his face flush with an unusual surge of anger. For a moment, he wasn't Steel. He was someone else, someone foreign to him. "This is my house and those are my children. I will do as I damn well please. And just what were you planning to do about it?"

"Do? Why, nothing, sir. I was just going about my business."

"I doubt that. Just what is your business?" For some reason, he was filled with a rage and an urge to strike her, to kick her, to kill her. He drew his hand back.

"Saving the children." She suddenly surged forward and pushed. Steel cried out as he toppled against the railing. It couldn't hold against his weight and he fell backward. True, the drop wouldn't kill him, but it could still hurt like hell when he stopped. From the top of the stairs he could see Hattie, her arms around several children.

Then he wasn't falling. He was merely lying on the dry grass fifty yards from the Smallie house, looking up at the silver green leaves of an oak tree. Steel could hear the whisper of the wind and feel it against his face. For a moment he feared it was a dream, then he sat up and looked around.

"It's all right, Steel." Sapphire was there, kneeling gracefully beside him, stroking his forearm. "I sensed you were in danger and took time back. Silver will be along in a moment. Quickly, tell me what happened."

Slightly disoriented, he took a deep breath, feeling his chest rise and fall with the effort. "I think Hattie just tried to kill me. No, not me, the General. I was the General. I felt his rage." He stopped. "I wanted to kill her, Sapphire. I would have if she didn't stop me."

Sapphire tried to hide her smile. "Steel, Hattie has been dead for nearly sixty years."

"There is a Time ripple at the top of the stairs. She was as alive as you or I." Then he remembered and held up his wrist. It was unmarked. "A child stopped me and asked if I'd play with it. I refused and then saw something rush me. I think it was Hattie in an attempt to kill the General, an attempt that failed. He must have killed her for it."

Steel got to his feet and began to brush himself off. Then he stopped and offered his hand to Sapphire, easily pulling her up. He gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Thank you for saving me."

"You were never in any real danger. As you pointed out, we can't be killed." She rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. "And you are welcome."

"She was trying to protect the children. I have a feeling that it wasn't unrequited love for the General, but for the children that keeps her here. After all this time, she is still protecting the children."

"That's very profound." She moved away a few steps. "Silver is here."

"No time like the present." Silver appeared to step from nothing into being. Then he stopped and looked around. "Weren't we arguing about something? I have the strangest sense of déjà vu I've been here before." He spotted the house. "Wait, I know that place. I'm confused."

"Yes, I'm sorry, Silver, I had to adjust time slightly to keep Steel from losing his dignity. It will all come back to you in a moment."

"The Smallie House." Silver nodded and then looked Steel over. "Got a bit of your own medicine, did you, then?"

"Hattie tried to kill him by pushing him down the stairs."

"Silly girl, doesn't she know Steel doesn't bounce well. It would have taken us a week to dig him out."

"Your concern is touching." Steel scowled at him and turned his attention back to Sapphire. "Sapphire, she thought I was the General. What information do you have on him?"

Sapphire's eyes glowed and her voice took on a mechanical edge. "Born 1847. His father died in a border skirmish and he was raised by his mother and grandmother. His childhood is without incident and at the age of 19, he married his first wife and then promptly joined up with the confederate army for the Civil War. They had ten children, only five of which survived. His wife died in 1865 and Smallie returned home having obtained the rank of General. He was very business savvy and was able to make himself a small fortune before he met and married his second wife. She was the only child of an oil baron and when she perished in child birth, her fortune went to the General. By then, he had nine children and needed someone to care for them."

"And he hired Hattie." Steel looked back at the house. "He had no idea what those children would come to mean to her. Are there any images of the General?"

"Yes, but you bore no resemblance to them." Sapphire's eyes and voice had returned to normal. "Perhaps it is not a likeness but rather that you are a man that caused her reaction."

"Perhaps we should send Silver in and see what happens with him."

"And have her toss me down the stairs, too? Unlike Steel, I'm very malleable."

"I will watch you as I watched him."

"If a child asks you to play with it, say yes." Steel ordered. He rubbed his wrist in memory.

"Okay…" He paused. "What should we play?"

"Whatever it wants to."

Silver set his shoulders and disappeared.

"That's cheating," Steel muttered.

"You are just jealous that you didn't think of it first." Sapphire smiled and started to walk slowly towards the house. She hesitated as she reached the rubble that had been the front porch, but she was allowed to pass unchallenged. That was good. She needed to be closer to Silver than she did Steel in order to protect him.

From the entry hall, she watched as Silver climbed the stairs. He looked back at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing so far."

"Steel said it was at the top."

He nodded and climbed to the second floor landing. Then he paused.

"Oh, hello, who are you, then?" he asked nothing or at least to Sapphire it was nothing. "Play? I would love to play with you. What do you like to play?" His hand moved, as if it was being grasped and led away.

"My suggestion was a good one."

Sapphire jumped at Steel's voice in her ear. "You should not be in here, Steel."

 _It's my job to protect both of you. Silver, are you all right?_

 _There are at least seven children here or various ages. They seem quite happy to see me. They keep hugging me… ow._

 _Silver? SILVER?_ Steel turned to his partner. "Get him out of there now, Sapphire!"

"I'm trying. Something is blocking me.

This time Silver cried out vocally and Steel didn't hesitate to climb the stairs taking two at a time. He didn't pause at the landing but rushed in the direction that Silver had taken. When he didn't reappear, Sapphire followed, only to find her way blocked by three women.

"That be far enough," Hattie said.

"My friends are in danger." Steel's and Silver's cries echoed in her head.

"The only one in danger here is our murderer." The woman's midsection bore a terrible wound.

"That man has been dead for a very long time." Sapphire attempted to move, but a woman whose face was battered beyond recognition merely shook her head. "These men didn't hurt you. They are good, just as you once were. We are here to help you."

"Stop us, you mean." Hattie's face was growing dark. "For too long, we be victims. No more, we be strong now.

"We mean to free you. Time is holding you hostage here and feeding off your anger and resentment. It isn't General Smallie who is your enemy, it's the very actions you choose to repeat."

"We be free… enough." The other two women nodded in agreement.

"This is our home now." Mrs. Smallie touched her midsection. "And the children are here. We don't need rescuing."

"Then release my friends and we will be on our way."

The three women huddled together and Sapphire anxiously tried to see past them. It had grown eerily quiet and she feared the worst.

Hattie separated from the others. "If you be so concerned, come with me."

Relieved, but cautious, Sapphire followed her. Shadows seem to scurry from her path and then Sapphire saw the two agents, on the ground, surrounded by children, many more than the original nine.

"Where did all these children come from?"

Hattie smiled, her facial wounds growing more and more apparent. "Any child is welcomed here. They play and we take care of them. Them what has no one else, we find and bring here."

"An orphanage for spirits?"

"Asylum from the living."

The children scattered at their approach and Sapphire gasped. The men's clothes were shredded and stained with red.

 _Steel? Silver?_ Sapphire mentally cried out to them.

 _Sapphire?_ Steel's thoughts were soft as if afraid of being heard.

 _Yes?_

 _RUN!_ He commanded and Sapphire turned just as the women and children attacked. With a cry, Sapphire stumbled back over the men and collapsed. Her eyes glowed and they simply shimmered from sight.

The ground was dusty and it made her cough. That action spurred one of the men beneath her to life and she quickly rolled off them, her hands fluttering over them. "Steel?"

"Yes." He flopped over and took a deep breath. "I would be very thankful if I never experience that again." He turned his head to look at Silver. "Are you still with us?"

"This is the last time I go on an assignment with the two of you." Silver got to his hands and knees as if in a daze. "That was a bit more than I'd bargained for."

"What happened, Sapphire?"

"The women. It's not Time that is causing the loop. It's the women themselves. To them, every man is the General and deserves punishment, as does anyone else who stands in their way.

"How do we stop them?"

"We don't." Steel got to his feet. "We were sent here because of a Time Anomaly. There is none. This is a routine haunting. Time is looped, but only for those who have passed. My recommendation will be to let the spot remain as it is. No one is in danger and Time is as much a victim as any man entering the house."

"Isn't that dangerous for the surrounding community?" Silver rose slower, still feeling the after effects of the attack.

"For whom?" Sapphire gestured expansively to the empty fields surrounding the house. "There is no one here for it to be a danger to. Its reputation has driven away the wary."

Silver rubbed his arm through the now undamaged suit jacket. "But what of the women and the children?"

"The women can leave anytime they want. The children stay because their mothers are there."

Steel resisted the pull of the house. "All they wanted was to escape the violence and now they've become a part of it. We will leave them to it"

The house had been empty for a long time, yet it still stood proud against the weather. Once there had been neighboring homes and laughing children who played upon the lawn, but those days were long gone. Now it was alone, long shunned and that suited the inhabitants just fine.


End file.
